A Once in a Lifetime Love
by Hopeful Romantic
Summary: Someday, Luke and Lorelai will together.
1. Angels, Cocoa, and Kisses

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Gilmore Girls, if I did, Luke and Lorelai would still be together. I didn't make any money from this and no copyright infringement is intended. Any similarity to any other story not my own is coincidence.

**Title:** Once in a Lifetime Love  
**Genre:** Gilmore Girls; javajunkie; fluff  
**Rating:** PG  
**Timeline:** The first few seasons when L&L are still just in denial and flirting *grin*  
**Author's Note:** Story breaks indicated by boldface and ellipses.

* * *

But every time I'm close to you  
there's too much I can't say  
and you just walk away,  
and I forgot to tell you I love you...  
-Sarah McLachlan-

* * *

_~Lorelai spread her arms out wide and spun in a giddy circle, her boots making soft crunching noises in the snow. She tilted her head back, closed her eyes, and stuck out her tongue to catch sweet cool snowflakes that melted like sugar in her mouth. _

_She spun until she was dizzy on her feet and she giggled in delight. Her light laugh carried in the crisp evening air as she fell back to make a snow angel in the white blanket of snow beneath her._

_"What are you doing?"_

_Lorelai opened her eyes and looked up into the face of **'her Luke.'**_

_She hopped up. "Come on Luke, enjoy my present with me!"_

_Lorelai reached for Luke's hands and tried to get him to spin in a circle with her, but he stood still, giving her his patented, 'Lorelai's crazy' look._

_"Come on, Luke," she pouted playfully. "Please," she asked, smiling brightly at him. She stepped closer, close enough that if they leaned ever so slightly, they would have been able to kiss. "Please, come play," she smiled charmingly at him._

_Luke's lips quirked in a half smile. "Dirty," he teased, and let himself be pulled into a spin._

_They spun in wide circles together until they were both too dizzy to stand and eventually collapsed back into the soft blanket of snow. Lorelai began making snow angels, but stopped and turned her head to where Luke lay, when she noticed that he was not making angels with her._

_"Come on, Luke," she reasoned. "You have to make angels. That's what the first snowfall is for, angels, and cocoa, and kisses."_

_"Kisses," he murmured as he rolled on his side to face Lorelai lying next to him._

_"Kisses," she whispered back as she rolled to face him, scooting close enough to touch._

_He reached for her then, and his lips were soft and gentle as he kissed her. She deepened the kiss, pushing gently so that Luke lay back and she could lay over him. They kept kissing, and kissing, until she was certain that the snow was going to start melting around them. Hands began to move…~_

***Beep…Beep…Beep…*** The alarm blared on the table next to Lorelai's bed, waking her from her deep sleep. She bolted up in her bed gasping.

"Oh boy," she muttered. She ran a hand over her face, her fingers lingering for a moment on her lips. They still seemed to tingle with remembered warmth from 'dream Luke's' kiss. "Oh boy," she repeated.

"Mom!" Rory called from downstairs. "Come on, we're going to be late!"

Lorelai glanced at the time on her fuzzy clock and hopped out of bed with a look of controlled panic. Quickly, she dashed about her bedroom, dressing in her jewel blue skirt and sky blue sweater.

"Mom!" Rory's voice called up urgently once more.

"Rory, Mommy's hurrying," she called back in a sing-song voice. "Why don't you go start the car?"

Lorelai heard her daughter at the foot of the stairs, grabbing the keys. She hopped down the stairs, trying to get on her heels.

"Stupid heels," Lorelai muttered. "Stupid alarm clock, stupid waking up early on a Friday morning."

Lorelai finally got both heels on and made her way out the door and to the rumbling Jeep in which her daughter waited. As she got in the driver's side and began maneuvering the Jeep out of the driveway, Rory asked, "Are you okay, Mom?"

"Sure I am, why?"

"Well, your sweater's on inside out," Rory pointed out.

Lorelai rolled her eyes with and expression of 'of course,' before she explained to her daughter. "I didn't sleep well. Let's just chalk this one up to not enough coffee yesterday."

Rory smiled slightly. "Well, you can make up for it today I'm sure."

Lorelai smiled back.

"Double Feature Friday tonight?" Lorelai asked her daughter.

"Well, Paris is making us have an emergency meeting for the Franklin."

"Emergency meeting?"

"Yeah, this issue is being submitted for 'Excellence in School Journalism' and it's got Paris even more crazy and stressed than usual."

"Can that girl be more crazy and stressed?" Lorelai asked, her voice incredulous.

Rory smiled slightly. "Actually, yeah, believe it or not. But this award is really important. We're talking, 'you like me, you really, really like me' important."

"Okay, 'Sally', then maybe only one movie, no double feature."

Rory nodded. "You pick, but make it a good one. After Paris gives us troops the Crispin's Day encouragement by way of Adolf, I'll need the comfort of a good movie and a burger from Luke's."

"Oh, the pressure," Lorelai teased. "How 'bout Willy Wonka. No one can resist the Oompa Loompas."

"Mom, only you can't resist them. And after not sleeping well, do you really want to risk another strange dream?" Rory asked, smiling, referring to her mother's oft mentioned dream of the dancing Oompa Loompas.

The teasing comment unintentionally brought Lorelai's dream of last night into her thoughts. For a moment, she found herself wondering if real Luke's lips would be as soft and sweet as 'dream Luke's' had been. She began smiling without realizing it.

"Ground control to major Tom…"Rory sang quietly, amused by her mother.

"Mom?" Rory asked, waiting for a response. "Mom?"

"What?" Lorelai's focus came back as she realized that Rory had been talking to her.

Rory smiled quietly, "Never mind." The girl pulled one of her ever present books out of her backpack and started reading as Lorelai firmly drove all thoughts of Luke and his lips from her mind…

* * *

**…Lorelai sighed quietly** as she set the phone back on the table just as knock came at the door. She opened it to see Luke holding two large bags of take out.

"Oh, thanks, Luke."

"What's wrong?" He asked, his voice concerned as he saw her sad expression.

"Oh, nothing major. It's just that Rory and I had a Friday movie night planned, but she just called to say that she had some school stuff that's going to run late so she's going to stay over night at a friend's house."

"Well, I'd ask if you still want all this food then, but I already know the answer to that."

Lorelai smiled and took the bags from him and walked into the living room to put them on the coffee table before she came back to where Luke was standing in the doorway.

Suddenly, she smiled brightly as inspiration struck. "Why don't you stay for movie night?"

"I should really get back to the diner. I left Ceasar there and…"

"And he can watch the diner and close up. Stay Luke, please," Lorelai pleaded, interrupting him. She smiled sweetly.

"Lorelai," he said, knowing even as he protested, that he would give in.

"Just for a little bit, Luke," she smiled even more brightly.

"For a few minutes," he grumped softly.

Lorelai did a little bounce on her toes and clapped before she walked back into the living room to set out the food and put in the movie.

"Salad?" Lorelai asked in disbelief as Luke followed her into the living room, taking off his coat and setting it down.

She held up the clear container of salad as if in accusation.

"It's good for you."

"Pah," Lorelia scoffed and popped a hot fry into her mouth.

Luke simply shook his head as Lorelai giggled and plopped down on the couch, hitting the play button on the remote. When Luke was still standing as Holly Golightly began walking across the screen, headed to Tiffany's, she motioned for him to come sit down next to her.

"Come on, a few minutes, Luke." She reached for the salad and held it out in his direction.

"Eat this. You wouldn't want Rory seeing it and becoming all anxious. She'd start looking around for pods, wondering where her mother went if she saw me with it."

Lorelai laughed softly as Luke rolled his eyes slightly over her comment.

"Here," Luke said, reaching for the salad and settling down on the couch next to Lorelai. "What are you watching?" He asked.

"Breakfast at Tiffany's." When Lorelai saw Luke's utter lack of recognition of the movie's title, she shook her head in mock disappointment.

"Where have you been living, a cave? Breakfast at Tiffany's, only the perfect Audrey Hepburn classic, fabulous clothes, a love story, and coffee."

Luke smiled slightly as he heard the utter delight that Lorelai had when saying coffee.

Lorelai grinned, and turned her attention back to the movie. After a few moments though, she found herself watching Luke. Specifically, she found herself watching his lips. She found herself thinking that he actually had rather attractive lips; lips that looked like they would be very nice to kiss; very nice to be kissed by. And once again, Lorelai found herself wondering if the real Luke's kiss would be as nice as her 'dream Luke's' had been.

"What?" Luke asked, startling Lorelai out of her thoughts and causing her to blush slightly as she realized that she had spent the last several moments staring at the man sitting next to her.

"What?" She asked, trying to cover.

"You were staring at me. What's wrong?"

Luke reached for a napkin and wiped his mouth. "Better?" He asked, a small smile playing over his lips.

"Oh? Oh, yeah, better," she answered and resolutely turned her attention back to the movie.

Luke shook his head fondly, knowing that he would never understand the woman sitting next to him; not if he had a hundred lifetimes to spend with her; not even if he ever got the chance to spend this one lifetime with her.

"Oh, I love this part," Lorelai suddenly sighed. "It's so sweet," she smiled unabashedly, free of the mocking tone that she often had when watching even the classic movies that she loved. On the television screen, Peppard was tucking Audrey into her bed, gently brushing back her dark hair and giving her a kiss on the forehead.

Lorelai turned to look at Luke, wanting to see his reaction. A small smile still lingered on her lips. Luke smiled quietly in response and reached over to brush back a stray lock of her hair. His eyes were warm and inviting, and Lorelai found herself leaning forward. The moment hung there trembling on the breath between them, when suddenly Lorelai panicked and broke it.

"Of course, Mickey Rooney trying to drink his tea…" she said, turning back to the screen. "Now that might be the best. Inspired casting there," she covered, trying to calm her racing heart.

"I should go."

"Oh no, Luke, stay," she said, turning back to him. "You can't miss the end of this one. It's almost perfect."

When he said nothing, she explained, "To be truly perfect, it would have had to have snow."

"Of course," Luke replied dryly.

Lorelai smiled brightly. "Watch, you'll see."

She settled back when Luke sighed and settled back himself to watch the rest of the movie…

* * *

**…The blue light** of the blank television screen flickered over the two figures on the couch. Somewhere between 'Moon River' and the end of the movie, both Lorelai and Luke had fallen asleep.

Now, Lorelai's head lay lightly on Luke's shoulder and her knees were tucked up close. One of his arms was around her shoulders, holding her gently near, and his other hand held hers where it rested on his lap. His own head was leaned so that his cheek rested on top of Lorelai's head.

Outside, a gentle snow was falling. Already a soft blanket of white lay over the grass and trees, glittering under the last of the morning stars and the still glowing moon.

Lorelai opened her eyes slowly and smiled. "Snow," she whispered.

Carefully, trying to not wake Luke, Lorelai slipped out of his embrace and tip toed to the window to look out. "Snow," she whispered once more, her voice hushed and happy.

She tip toed over to the foyer and slipped on her boots and her coat and stepped outside. Once out in the yard, she began to spin, arms outstretched. She turned in giddy circles, around and around, until she was too dizzy to remain standing. She fell back into the already deep blanket of white and closed her eyes.

Happily, she moved her arms and legs, making a snow angel. She stuck her tongue out and savored the cool sweetness of snowflakes melting in her mouth.

"What are you doing?"

Lorelai opened her eyes to see Luke looking down over her. He was wearing his expression of fond bemusement with a look in his blue eyes that said, 'what is she doing now?"

"Snow," she giggled happily.

Luke simply shook his head and held out a hand to help her up.

"Come on Luke," she reached for his hand. "The first snowfall is for angels, cocoa, and kisses," and she pulled him down to his knees next to her as she sat up.

She looked into his dark blue eyes and found herself thinking back to her dream of the other night.

"Kisses," he murmured, his voice thick and husky with sudden emotion.

"Kisses," she whispered back, her own voice trembling slightly.

They were so close now that they could feel the breath between them.

"Oh Sugar! Are you okay? Did you fall?" Babette called from her porch where she was stepping out to get her morning paper.

Lorelai blushed fiercely as turned to look in her neighbor's direction. "I'm okay, Babette. Thanks."

"Luke, you'll help our poor girl inside won't you?"

"I'll help her, thanks Babette," Luke called over.

Babette nodded and headed back inside her house.

Luke helped Lorelai up and they stood awkwardly facing each other.

"Well," Luke stammered, embarrassed. "I should get back to the diner. Need to open soon."

"Yeah, of course," Lorelai tripped over her own words, "of course."

"So," he drew out his words. "See you later."

"Later."

Luke stepped back, still awkward as he ducked his head, adjusting his ever present blue cap. But when he looked up, his eyes found hers.

"Maybe next time," he said softly, and stepped forward to kiss Lorelai's forehead before he turned to go. She couldn't see his smile, but Lorelai felt the one on her own lips as he walked away…


	2. Chuppas and Cheesecake

A once in a lifetime love  
A love like we've all dreamed of  
It may go disguised right before your eyes  
A once in a lifetime love  
-Alan Jackson-

* * *

_**…Luke took a** deep breath and opened his eyes to the pale rose wash of light surrounding him. He took another deep breath of the crisp air, savoring the cool sweetness of it; and another deep breath to take in the warmth of the rich dawn light and the scent of roses and daisies in the hushed air._

Above him, covering the arch of the chuppa that he had built for Lorelai, was a shivering canopy of washed blue silk. Beneath its quiet dance, Luke waited, as he always had, knowing that what he wanted was more than worth the wait.

For several heartbeats, the only sound that he could hear was the simple cadence of the snowflakes as they fell with a fragile whisper against the cloth above him. Then, the beginning strains of 'Canon in D Major' drifted gently amongst the delicate crystals of the first snowfall, lending an ethereal quality to the moment.

Luke turned his attention the pink daisy strewn path that lead to the chuppa. He caught his breath and felt his heartbeat leap as he finally saw what he had been waiting for.

Lorelai began her walk toward him, the white train of her dress flowing out behind her and snowflakes glittering in her dark hair. Luke watched, the sight of her beauty filling his eyes, his heart, and his soul. When she finally reached him, he whispered, "You look beautiful."

"It's the dress," she whispered back, irrepressible, even now.

Luke smiled, knowing that it was that playful, wild spirit that had first drawn him to her; made him love her. He lost himself in the bright blue of her eyes as he said quietly, his voice deep and rich, "I love you, Lorelai. I have always loved you. I will always love you."

Gently, he took her left hand in his and carefully slipped the elegant gold band on her finger.

Lorelai mirrored Luke's action, taking his left hand in hers.

"Luke, you're all I want. You're all I need. You're everything. I love you."

She slipped the broad, simple gold band over his finger.

Luke's hands went to Lorelai's waist where they lay warm against the rich white fabric.

"You are the love of my life," he whispered.

Tenderly, he pulled her to him and brought his lips to hers, losing himself in the sweetness of her kiss…

* * *

**Luke woke with** a gasp as he sat up from his slumped position in the chair, his heartbeat racing with the memory of his dream. The sound of his alarm clock was a buzz in the background as he ran a shaking hand over his face. He looked to his left hand, almost expecting to see a gold band there, so real had his dream felt.

"Oh man," he murmured, still feeling the warmth of the kiss that he and the Lorelai of his dream had shared.

Luke ran another shaking hand over his face and through his hair.

"Oh man," he repeated once more before shaking his head slightly to clear it of the dream and getting up to make a start of his Saturday…

* * *

**The crisp light** of a Stars Hallow winter sky filled Luke's diner, streaming in through the large windows and washing over the last of the Saturday morning breakfast crowd. They were mostly regulars this morning that had braved the first snowfall to make into Luke's for a warm breakfast, though there were one or two tourists that stared in strange fascination at the locals surrounding them.

"Coffee, coffee, coffee," Luke heard the familiar plea as Lorelai came in, glittering with snowflakes from the gentle fall outside.

He felt the familiar initial skip of his heart upon seeing her, and welcomed the momentary breathlessness that always accompanied his first sight of Lorelai. Then, just as quickly, he covered the quiet longing with the beginning of his normal rant about the Stars Hallow re-enactors. "Look at them."

"Another beautiful thing about the first snowfall," Lorelai responded happily as she settled at the counter while Luke poured her a large blue mug of coffee.

"It's ridiculous," Luke mumbled.

"Oh come on Luke, it's a part of the first snowfall. It's one of the things that the first snowfall is for."

Lorelai met Luke's deep blue eyes with her own, and blushed slightly as she remembered what else she had told him first snowfalls were for.

Luke smiled slightly, saying nothing until Lorelai returned his smile with a quiet one of her own.

"Luke, we need some more coffee here, or are you going to stand talking all day with Lorelai, ignoring your other customers," Taylor called over in an superior and self-important tone.

"Oh, yeah, beautiful," Luke grumbled as he went to fill up the freshly empty cups of the re-enactors. As he was filling up their cups, Rory bounced in, gave a cheerful hello, and made her way over to where her mom sat at the counter.

"I'm sorry about last night," Rory said by way of greeting. "Paris was in rare form and there was no convincing her that we had a life outside of Chilton and The Franklin."

"Hey, no problem. I understand. I've met Paris, remember? Better to keep on the good-side of Napoleon, at least until a good Wellington comes along."

Rory smiled at her mother and then turned to Luke as he finally stepped back behind the counter.

"Coffee?" He asked the girl.

"Yes, please. Thanks." Rory beamed at him as he filled another large mug for Lorelai's daughter with a small nod, before walking off to help his other customers.

"So it was okay then?" Rory asked as she turned back to her mother.

"Oh yeah," Lorelai answered, taking the another sip of her coffee and setting the mug down before continuing. "Luke brought food and stayed to watch the movie with me. Can you believe he's never seen 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' before?"

"Really?" Rory asked in surprise.

"Yeah, I mean, classic right?" Lorelai managed to say before her daughter interrupted her.

"No, I mean, really, you watched movies with Luke? You had a movie night with Luke? I didn't think Luke was a movie sort of guy."

"I'm not," Luke said as he overheard the last part when he came back to refill Lorelai's already empty mug of coffee.

"Or a snow angel sort of guy either," Lorelai added before she could stop herself.

Luke felt his heart skip another beat as Lorelai quickly took a sip of her coffee to cover her confusion and chagrin. And watching her, Luke had the not unfamiliar question come to mind of what it would be like to kiss Lorelai. He wondered what would have happened the other night if Babette hadn't interrupted them. And Luke wondered what it would be like to finally sweep Lorelai up in his arms and tell her that he loved her.

Rory looked back and forth between the oddly acting pair and opened her mouth to ask what was going on just as Luke spoke.

"Oh, hey," he said quickly, trying to turn his thoughts from the dangerous direction that they were turning in. "I noticed that your front porch railing is loose again. You should get that fixed before winter really sets in. Why don't I stop by this afternoon to fix it?"

Lorelai lowered her cup. "Oh sure, that'd be great."

"Around two then?"

"Ah, sure. Two. That'd be fine."

"Okay," Luke said.

"Okay."

Suddenly, there was a crash from the kitchen and Luke rushed back to check on what was going on in back.

"Okay, spill." Rory demanded. "Something happened. What happened?"

"Nothing. I told you. Luke stayed to watch the movie. Then he went home," Lorelai responded rapidly.

"Snow angels,' Rory prompted just as Luke came storming out of the kitchen shooing Kirk before him and towards the door.

"Out!" Luke growled.

"I've been wondering lately what it would be like to be a diner owner," the eccentric young man was trying to explain.

"Out!" Luke growled again, herding Kirk toward the door. "And don't let me find you back in my kitchen again!"

Both Rory and Lorelai watched in horrified amusement, their conversation lost in the entertainment of seeing yet another Stars Hallow moment…

* * *

**Rory snatched up** her yellow backpack and headed to the door just as the doorbell rang.

"I got it!" She called to her mom in the kitchen.

The young girl opened the door to find Luke standing there, a large gray toolbox in his hand.

"Mom, it's Luke, and he brought Bert," she called out, referring to the name that they had christened the toolbox with.

"Oh good. Hello Bert," Lorelai said as she walked over to the foyer from the direction of the kitchen a strawberry pop tart in her hand.

"I really wish you won't do that," Luke said.

"What?" Lorelai asked innocently, smiling brightly.

"Refer to my toolbox as Bert."

"Dirty," Lorelai teased, just to get a reponse.

"Jeez," Luke said, much to Lorelai's amusement.

Rory hid a smile. "Well, I'm off to Lane's."

"Bye hun. See you later," Lorelai said as her daughter stepped out the front door. She turned back to Luke, making the pop tart as visible as possible in her hand. A smile played over her lips as she waited for the inevitable.

"Those things'll take five years off of your life you know," Luke's voice finally rumbled quietly.

Lorelai's small smile turned to a bright grin. "Yeah, but it'll be those five years where I would've ended up wearing fushia lipstick way above my lip line and talking about calla lilies in the spring."

Luke shook his head slightly and Lorelai laughed lightly.

Finally, Luke smiled back quietly before he spoke. "So, I'm going to get started on the railing, I want to get it done before it gets dark, or starts snowing again."

"Sure, yeah. Do you need anything?" She asked.

"No, I'm okay. I should be done here before dark."

Lorelai nodded quietly before she said, "Thank you Luke," kissing him impulsively on the cheek.

He tried to not notice how soft her hair was as it brushed his neck, or how intoxicating her scent was as he inhaled. And most definitely, he tried to not think back to his dream and how wonderful it had felt to hold Lorelai and kiss her, telling her that he loved her.

"But," she teased as she pulled back. "Don't think that this is going to make me forget that you still owe me a snow angel." She smiled mischievously as Luke shook his head…

* * *

**Luke finally set** his toolbox down in an out of the way in a corner of the entryway, opening the lid to place the list that Lorelai had given him, inside. Then he latched the lid closed and stepped out of the front door. Lorelai looked up from where she sat on the top porch step, her hands wrapped around a warm mug of coffee.

"Oh, where's Bert? Is he staying?" She asked, smiling.

"I'll come back later to finish up the list," Luke replied simply as he stepped out onto the porch and into the dusky evening light, adjusting his gloves as he prepared to head home to the diner.

Lorelai set her coffee down and stood up. "Hey, Luke?"

Luke looked up and over, meeting Lorelai's bright blue eyes. She held his gaze and spoke sincerely, her voice going soft. "I, umm, I just want you to know that we, that I, really do appreciate everything that you do for me, and for Rory."

With Lorelai standing there, her eyes warm and inviting, the rich light of dusk creating a halo around her, Luke found himself thinking about his dream. Unbidden, the memory of seeing her walking toward him, smiling, in her wedding gown, filled his mind's eye.

He felt his heart skip a beat and his breath catch. For several moments, he was speechless, lost as he was in overwhelming longing.

"Luke? Luke, are you okay?" Lorelai asked.

"Oh, oh yeah," he answered, shaking himself free of the moment.

He turned to look out over the snow that was falling heavily now, creating a thicker blanket of white over everything.

"Ugh," he muttered. Under his breath he started to grumble about freezing water, and what a pain it was to shovel from the sidewalk, and the way that it froze fingers and toes.

"Luke,' Lorelai admonished. "You need to make snow feel welcome. When it feels welcome, it'll keep you safe and protected and bring you beautiful things." She smiled brightly at the grumbling diner owner.

"Besides," she continued, hopping down the front porch stairs and into the snow.

"Wait, don't tell me. Second snows are for something too."

"Of course not," she teased.

Luke looked relieved.

"There's no such thing as a second snow. After the first one, it's all just snow." She smiled mischievously and reached down into the glittering blanket of snow at her feet.

Luke shook his head slightly, secretly amused by yet more strange Lorelai logic.

Still reaching down as if simply enjoying the feel of the tingling cool snow, she said, "And all this lovely snow, is for sleigh rides, and snow women…"

She stood up quickly, a lightly packed snowball in her hand. "And snowball fights," she said quickly, throwing the snowball in Luke's direction before he could respond.

He was startled enough that Lorelai had a chance to make and throw another lightly packed snowball before he growled out her name in warning. She laughed lightly, the bright sound of it dancing through the crisp air. She threw yet another snowball in Luke's direction, hitting him squarely in the chest.

With a soft growl, Luke was down the steps and moving in Lorelai's direction. She giggled and ran, clumsily trying to continue to make and throw snowballs at Luke. With a playful smirk, Luke finally lobbed a snowball back at Lorelai with unerring aim. It hit her with a soft thump.

Lorelai gave a surprised laugh and tried to keep up her end of the skirmish. Eventually, as each snowball she made missed Luke and each one he threw hit her with a soft thump, Lorelai gave up and made a run for the door.

They were well out into the yard, and Lorelai had to weave and duck as she made a break for the chuppa, to dash through it and then to the porch.

"Oh, no you don't Lorelai Gilmore," Luke laughed, giving chase. "You started this."

Lorelai laughed breathlessly and continued her dash for the chuppa. Suddenly, two very strong arms wrapped themselves around her waist as Luke caught her. He spun with her in his arms once before they both tumbled to the ground beneath the chuppa, laughing as Luke landed on his back with Lorelai landing on top of him.

"See," she laughed breathlessly. "That's what snow is for. So no more of this frozen menace talk," she admonished.

"All right," he conceded. "You win," he relented, looking into her shining eyes and trying very hard to not notice how pleasant it was to feel her light weight over him.

"Of course I do," she replied lightly, meeting his amused blue eyes with her own.

Luke reached up with both hands to gently brush back the damp curling tendrils of her hair that had slipped forward. He lay his hands lightly to cup her cheeks as she shivered slightly. Tenderly, he brought her head down to kiss her forehead before he murmured, "You're going to freeze out here in all this snow that isn't a frozen menace."

Lorelai nodded and got up carefully, Luke following suit and starting to brush snow from his clothes until he looked up and met Lorelai's eyes.

"What?" he half laughed when he saw her watching him with a quiet thoughtful expression.

He reached over to gently brush snowflakes from her dark hair and she shivered slightly as Luke felt the moment shift from playful, to something deeper and more intense. He looked into her eyes and remembered his dream of standing beneath the chuppa with Lorelai.

"Beautiful," he murmured, stepping closer to her.

"Luke," she whispered.

He reached for her then, placing his hands on her waist and drawing her to him. She reached up and brushed her hands through his hair now that it was finally free of the baseball cap that had tumbled into the snow.

"Lorelai," he whispered her name like a prayer full of longing.

He started to lean in to kiss her, his heartbeat racing.

"Mom!"

Luke and Lorelai sprang apart as they heard Rory's voice as she raced up the porch steps and through the front door.

"Mom! Where are you? You're never going to believe what happened at Miss Patty's," Rory called as she entered the house looking for her mother.

For a moment, Luke and Lorelai were frozen where they stood the few inches apart that they had stepped back from each other.

"Lorelai," Luke whispered, his voice low and thick with conflicting emotion.

He wanted very much to ignore the warning in his head that told him to step back; to let the moment pass. For once, he wanted to follow through with the impulse to kiss her. This once, he wanted to feel the longing that he always felt for Lorelai, but normally suppressed.

"Lorelai," he whispered once more, and she stepped toward him.

But before they could close the final distance between them, Rory's voice called from the porch. "Mom? Are you out here?"

Lorelai finally turned and called to her daughter. "I'm here."

She gave Luke a chagrined, apologetic look, then headed over to her daughter standing in the doorway. Luke reached down to pick up his fallen baseball cap and followed.

"So, what happened at Miss Patty's?"

"Hey, Luke," Rory greeted him.

"So I'm going to get going," he said simply. "I'll be around later to finish that other stuff on the list."

Lorelai looked over to him an embarrassed almost uncomfortable look in her blue eyes. "Thanks, Luke. Really, thanks so much."

"It's no problem. See you tomorrow."

"Yeah, tomorrow."

Luke started to head back to the diner, rubbing his hands to keep them warm.

"You didn't mom," Luke heard as he walked away. "You didn't give Luke another big list. Is that why Bert is here? You…"

Rory's voice cut off as she and her mother entered the house…

* * *

**Luke looked up** from the register when he heard the soft knocking on the glass door. Lorelai stood on the other side, backlit by the street lamps. She gave him a smile and gestured that he should open the door for her.

With a quiet sigh, he stepped away from the counter and went to open the door.

"Okay, even for you, it's a little late for coffee isn't it?"

Lorelai ducked under his arm and into the diner as he sighed and turned to face her, the door swinging shut.

"First, I did not come for coffee," she replied. "And second," she said, a mock serious look on her face, "it is never too late for coffee."

Luke smirked and head back over to the register. "So what do you need?"

"I wanted to talk about before."

Luke ignored the quick skip of his heart and keep his voice casual. "Before?"

"Umm, yeah, before…you know, before…" She gestured vaguely with her hands.

Suddenly, Luke didn't want her to continue. No matter what she was going to say, he didn't want her to talk. He didn't want to hear some speech about being good friends. And he didn't want to hear her stumble through the words that she was looking for, even if it was to say that she wanted him. Because he knew that she wasn't ready; not yet.

What he did want, was her. He wanted her everyday and every night. And he wanted everything; all of her; forever. He wanted Lorelai Gilmore like no one before. And he was willing to wait if it meant that he could have that. He could wait, if it meant that someday, his dream of her in a white dress and in his arms could come true.

So he interrupted her. "I have something for you in the back."

"Oh, oh okay," she replied, losing momentum for what ever she had been preparing to say. She sat down at the counter as Luke ducked back into the kitchen.

Luke came back out carrying a pie tray that he sat down in front of her.

Lorelai looked down at the white cheesecake that Luke had set down on the counter. On the top of the pie, was the shape of a snow angel that Luke had created with a knife. He smiled.

Lorelai looked up from the cheesecake, her smile bright and her blue eyes shining happily.

As Luke looked into the blue eyes of the woman he secretly cherished, he knew that he could wait forever for a once in a lifetime love…

_Fin_


End file.
